Demographic structure, consumption composition, and household health investment: evidence from sports and fitness expenditure.

Authors

Ziyue Wang, Haoran Bai

Published in

Frontiers in public health. Volume 14. Pages 1815361. Epub Sep 23, 2026.

Abstract

This study examines how household age structure is associated with health-related expenditure in China, distinguishing broad medical and healthcare expenditure from narrower health/fitness expenditure.
Using nationally representative China Household Finance Survey data from 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021, we estimate associations between old-age and child dependency ratios and two expenditure outcomes and examine potential mechanisms through precautionary saving and household disposable income.
Old-age dependency is positively and relatively consistently associated with both broad medical and healthcare expenditure and narrow health/fitness expenditure. The association for child dependency is less stable across outcomes and specifications, but the mediation results are consistent with the possibility that household income constraints are relevant for discretionary health/fitness expenditure. Robustness, heterogeneity, and supplementary instrumental-variable analyses support an associational interpretation rather than a strong causal claim.
Demographic structure is linked not only to the level of household health-related expenditure but also to its composition. Distinguishing old-age and child dependency helps clarify how demographic transition may shape household capacity for preventive and discretionary health investment.

PMID:
42845823
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Oct 2026.

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